A TV contest on writing Chinese characters has become very popular across the country, and made many people rue their inability to use pen and paper to write in the information age. How can we help people continue the traditional art of writing? The views of China Daily's mobile phone news readers follow:

Computers and laptops, followed by smartphones and tablets, have curtailed people's need to use a pen to write, which is loss of an important cultural trait. To avoid becoming strangers to the art of writing, we have to use pen and paper as much as possible to write. For example, we could maintain a diary the traditional way and write letters on paper to friends and family members. I have been watching the TV contest on writing Chinese characters and admit the contestants' knowledge of Chinese characters is way better than mine. It is true that practice a man makes perfect.

A READER, Chongqing

Can we interpret the problem Chinese people have with writing Chinese characters as a decline of their proficiency in the Chinese language? In the age of new media, language input software of all kinds have made life convenient for us. But there is a need to stick to the traditional use of pen and paper to write. With foreign languages gaining more importance than the Chinese language in the present education system, the education department should make handwriting a criterion for excellence to preserve the art of writing.

A READER, Zhengzhou, Henan province

As students of normal universities about to become teachers after graduation, my classmates and I are required to take part in Chinese language proficiency tests and obtain grade certificates. This, in my opinion, plays an important role in getting a job. Companies and public institutions should consider making handwriting part of the qualification process for employment. The promotion of writing Chinese characters using pen and paper is important to make people aware of the dying art of handwriting.

A READER, Beijing

People today are more dependent on software to write everything from short messages to letters; they are more inept at using and pen and paper to express themselves. Computer technology has taken such giant steps that we can find the right Chinese character as long as we know, even vaguely, what it looks like or how it is pronounced. So the best way to keep the flag of handwriting flying is to write as much as possible using pen and paper, which would also strengthen our knowledge of Chinese characters.

LEFEITIAN, Shanghai

With the entry of more sophisticated and innovative electronic devices in the market, increasingly more people are alienated from pen and paper, even forgetting how to write Chinese characters in the traditional way. Efforts should be made to make as many people as possible to join activities dedicated to writing Chinese characters the traditional way. The TV contest on writing Chinese characters is a good example to follow.

A READER, Xuzhou, Jiangsu province

Thanks to the accelerating pace of urban life and the rapid development of technology, fewer and fewer people are inclined to use pen and paper to write. As a result, they cannot recognize what many Chinese characters look like until they appear on the screens (in most cases with options) of computers, cellphones and iPads. The need, therefore, is to read and write Chinese as much as possible. Let us hope that every Chinese masters the Chinese characters and passes down the knowledge to the next generation.

A READER, Shuozhou, Shanxi province

(China Daily USA 09/02/2013 page12)